Fighting Fire With Fire
by eponnia
Summary: AU. "You can't arrest her without a fair trial!" [Everlark]
1. Chapter 1

Fighting Fire With Fire

SUMMARY: AU. "You can't arrest her without a fair trial!" 2012 film Everlark set in a Panem where the Hunger Games do not exist.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I realize the alternate universe of Panem where all the characters live without the Games hanging over their heads has been done before, but I'm going to do my own twist on it. This fic will be mainly Everlark, and, because Gale does deserve some happiness, there will be mentions of Gadge, and references to Glato, Clarvel, and Finnie (or Odesta, whatever you want to call Finnick/Annie). Does anyone else think that Madge should have been in the movie? Or is it just me?**

_**Fighting Fire With Fire**_**, or FFWF as I will call it, is set in a movieverse Panem minus the Games, but the characters are a bit older than we first meet them in the book(s)/film(s). Katniss, Peeta, Gale, etc., are in their early twenties instead of being teenagers. Other than age changes and the absence of the Games, everything in FFWF will stay the same – District Twelve is still poor, President Snow is still evil, it's still illegal to hunt in the woods, etc.**

**I hope you enjoy **_**Fighting Fire With Fire**_**.**

* * *

A young woman stood in a forest, a bow in hand and quivver of arrows slung across her back, an arrow notched in the string. She was tall and pale, her dark hair in a single braid down her back. Though physically just out of adolescent-hood, her brown eyes held a seriousness that marked those who hadn't had much a childhood.

Katniss Everdeen lifted the bow, letting the feathers at the end of the arrow brush her cheek. Her eyes were trained on the lean hare sitting on its haunches yards away. It wasn't much, but it was the only game she had seen for hours. The hare turned its head, nose twitching, and just as she was about to release the arrow, the creature moved away.

Mentally cursing, she kept her bow trained on the hare as it moved. Just as it was about to go behind a tree, she let the arrow fly. The force of the impact hurled the hare a foot or two into the underbrush, and she lost sight of it.

Katniss took a few long strides across the clearing, eyes scanning the bushes for the hare. She was so intent on finding the game that she nearly didn't see the flash of white out of the corner of her eye.

Peacekeepers.

Katniss ran.

The hare forgotten, she sprinted in the opposite direction of the white-clad guards. She knew the woods better than the Peacekeepers, but there were more of them. Suddenly, two Peacekeepers burst into her path, and two more came up behind her. She tried to lunge away, but one grabbed her arm.

"You're under arrest for hunting illegally!" the man said. Katniss responded by kicking him in the shin as she fought, but another Peacekeeper grabbed her other arm. She did her best to break free of their grip, but one – their leader, she assumed – struck her hard across the face.

"Come quietly or there will be trouble for you, girl," he ordered. She did not reply as blood oozed from her split lip.

* * *

Katniss felt the eyes of all of District Twelve on her as the Peacekeepers dragged her into the main square. The Justice Building towered over her as the men jerked her roughly to a stop; a crowd began to form around them.

Romulus Thread, the Head Peacekeeper of District Twelve, approached. "What's this one done?"

"We caught her hunting in the forest, sir."

"How did she get out of the District?"

As the Peacekeepers talked, Katniss saw her mother and younger sister push their way to the front to the crowd – rather, Prim was pulling Mrs. Everdeen behind her. The young girl gasped, letting go of her mother's arm, and suddenly shot forward.

"No, Prim!" Katniss cried as a Peacekeeper stopped Prim as the twelve-year-old screamed her older sister's name. Gale appeared out of nowhere and took Prim, pulling her back to Mrs. Everdeen, who stood pale and unmoving in shock. Katniss fought to reach her sister, but stopped cold as Thread spoke, his voice raising above the shouting.

"Six months in prison."

Dread ran its icy finger down her spine as her face drained of color.

Her family could starve in six months.

The Peacekeepers began to lead her towards the jail. She was too numb with shock and trepidation to protest, her face filled with fear; she did not dare look back as Prim screamed her name.

"Wait!"

Someone ran into the Peacekeepers' path, forcing them to stop. Katniss could not take her eyes from the young man standing before her.

Peeta Mellark.

_Rain. Cold. She is so hungry. She collapses outside the bakery. Peeta comes out in the pouring rain as his mother yells at him, shoving burned bread in his hands._

_Her stomach feels like its eating itself. The pigs look more well fed than she does. Peeta sees her on the ground, half-covered in mud, her face drained of all color._

_She is so hungry._

"You can't arrest her without a fair trial!" Peeta said quickly, his eyes meeting hers for a split second.

_He glances back at the bakery, but his mother is watching. He rips the bread in chunks and tosses them one by one to the pigs. _

_She is so cold, so tired. She looks up at him with the last of her draining energy. He looks back once more at the bakery, and his mother is gone._

_He throws her a loaf of half-burned bread._

_She will not starve. Not today._

"You have to give her a trial!" he repeated, his blond hair falling slightly in his eyes.

"She broke the law," snarled Thread.

"She deserves a trial!"

"Fine," said Thread. "She'll get a trial. Get out of the way!"

Katniss was dragged into the jail.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Stay tuned for the next chapter! **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Katniss sat on the wooden bench in the dirty cell, motionless.

How could she have let herself get caught?

Suddenly the door leading into the hall that ran parallel to the cells opened. A prison guard began to unlock her cell door as Gale stood beside him. Katniss sprang to her feet, her eyes trained on Gale.

"You have five minutes."

The moment the door opened, Gale embraced Katniss. She pulled away, looking wildly into his eyes. "Are they okay? Is Prim okay? They aren't being punished for me, are they?"

"Slow down, Catnip," he said, forcing a light tone into his voice. "Prim's fine. Your mother's fine. I made sure they got home safe. Prim was crying her eyes out."

"They'll starve without me, Gale," she said in a terrified voice.

"I'll take care of them," he said. "About you, I think they will give you a trial."

"They're brainwashed by the Capitol. No one gets a trial in Twelve."

"Yes, they do, and you'll get one. What that kid said in the square-"

"Peeta," she said. "Peeta Mellark." At Gale's confused look, she continued, "He saved my life once."

"Time's up," the guard said.

"I'll get your bail," Gale said as the guard pulled him out.

"Don't let them starve!" she cried, and the door was slammed shut.

A few seconds later it opened, and Prim and Mrs. Everdeen appeared. "Five minutes."

Prim threw herself at Katniss, crying. "It's okay, Prim," she said, holding her sister. "It's okay."

"Here," Prim sniffed, pulling back. She unclenched her hand and opened it to reveal a golden Mockingjay pin. "You told me it would keep me safe. I want you to have it," she said, echoing Katniss' own words from only that morning.

"Thanks, Prim," Katniss said, taking the pin. Disentangling herself from her sister, she approached her mother.

"You have to be there for her."

"I know," Mrs. Everdeen said in that wispy, thin voice, but Katniss cut her off.

"You can't shut down. Six months is a long time. You have to take care of her. Do you understand?" she said forcefully, feeling once again that she was the strong one and her mother the one who needed to be reminded to continue living day after day. Mrs. Everdeen nodded.

The guard return. "Goodbye, Prim," Katniss said. "Gale will take care of you." The guard Prim out of the cell, and Katniss and her mother locked eyes. The rest of Katniss' words hung unspoken in the air.

_Gale will take care of you if your mother can't._

Mrs. Everdeen left.

Her next visitor was Peeta. Even though the time was ticking away, they stood looking at each other for a moment.

"They're going to give you a trial," he said. "I don't know how fair it will be, but it's something." She did not say anything in return, and he brought a hand to the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable. "I'm going to get you a lawyer," he continued, and she gave a nod. There was a long silence.

"Thanks," she said quietly, finally meeting his eyes. He gave her a slight smile that she barely returned. They both knew the other was thinking of the night he saved her life.

"Why are you doing this for me?" she asked.

"I –"

"Time's up," the guard said, returning.

"I'll came back, I promise," Peeta said as he was pulled out of the room.

She was left alone.

* * *

The next morning, Katniss was taken to a small windowless room and chained to a desk, sitting down as the guard left.

A man came into the room and sat down in the chair opposite Katniss. He was fairly tall, wearing a tweed suit that had seen better days, the sleeves rolled up and the jacket absent. He clearly had been drinking, his words slightly slurred as he spoke.

"I'm Haymitch Abernathy, your lawyer. You must be Katniss Everdeen."

She did not reply.

"Look, sweetheart, we aren't going to get anywhere if you don't talk." Haymitch leaned forward. "So, why are you locked up?"

"I was hunting," she said finally. "In the woods."

"Technically, that's against the law –"

"My family is starving," she cut in, locking eyes with him.

He leaned back. "That complicates things," he said. "If you were poaching for sport, I could get you out pretty fast. But you'll probably do it again to feed your family, right?"

She nodded.

"I'll tell you this," Haymitch said with a sigh, "this isn't going to be easy. Because you plan on doing this again –"

"I have to," she interrupted furiously. "My sister is starving to death!"

He held up a hand. "Let me finish. Because you plan on hunting illegally again, we have to be very careful in the trial. You could wind up in here long than six months."

"You're a lawyer! You're supposed to get me out!"

"There's only so much I can do –"

"Have you ever starved?" she said, her tone hard.

"Yes, I have, and if you don't cooperate you could end up in her for a very long time!" he said angrily, and continued, forcing his voice lower. "You have to make people like you on that stand, make them feel sorry for you. Frankly, you aren't doing a very good job, sweetheart. Now, I suggest you and I work together to sort this out so you can go home. Face the fact that you could be locked up for a long time, and there's not much I can do about that. What you did was against the lay, and though you had a good reason, the courts aren't going to care about that reason. Got it?"

She nodded curtly.

"Now that that's settled between us, let's start forming your plea…"


End file.
